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<title>key to paradise by Lake (beyond_belief)</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27492805">key to paradise</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyond_belief/pseuds/Lake'>Lake (beyond_belief)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Ocean's Eleven Trilogy (Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Cuddling &amp; Snuggling, Drunkenness, Gen, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:41:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>846</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27492805</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/beyond_belief/pseuds/Lake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Talkin' 'bout getting out of the game.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Danny Ocean &amp; Rusty Ryan, Danny Ocean/Rusty Ryan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>73</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>key to paradise</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>2020 and I'm still mad that Ocean's 8 even tried to make us think Danny could be dead.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"When this is over, I think it's time to fake my own death," Danny says, two bottles of wine in, with another waiting.</p>
<p>"Mmm," is Rusty's reply.</p>
<p>"Let Tess collect the insurance. Be rid of the whole Benedict thing forever. All my police reports can be changed to <i>closed by death of offender</i>." He gestures as he says the last part, like he's punctuating each word, and wine nearly goes over the edge of his glass.</p>
<p>Rusty reaches up and gently brings Danny's arm back down to a normal place. "Careful."</p>
<p>"I don't even know how I managed to get that insurance."</p>
<p>Rusty grins at that one. "I wouldn't insure you."</p>
<p>Danny drains the glass and sets it down, then makes a vaguely distressed sound, and lies down with his head in Rusty's lap. Rusty pets his hair, says, "I'm sorry about Tess."</p>
<p>Danny's fingers flex on his knee, so Rusty adds, "At least this time you didn't decide to rob a museum."</p>
<p>"I thought about it."</p>
<p>"She doesn't even work for a museum right now."</p>
<p>"That doesn't mean I couldn't steal some paintings or something," Danny says, sounding petulant enough about it that Rusty can't help but laugh at him. </p>
<p>"How would you even go about it, though?" he asks, less so Danny will answer and more because he's picturing a funeral where half the attendees pretend to be sad and Frank delivers an incredibly straight-faced eulogy. </p>
<p>"What museum are we talking? Even the smaller ones have put in state-of-the-art systems now. Cameras twenty-four seven, weight-sensitive wall mounts, bulletproof glass. Automated locks." </p>
<p>Danny sounds genuinely depressed about the state of museum security, and Rusty is amused. He slides his fingers through Danny's hair some more, then suggests, "Maybe a private collector?"</p>
<p>"Anyone with enough money to keep some Dalis, Monets, Manets, Rembrandts, whatever in their house has enough money for a better security system than a museum with only one or two of those and then a bunch of lesser artists," Danny grumbles. </p>
<p>"All right, maybe not paintings, then."</p>
<p>"I do have a recurring daydream about thieving from an auction house."</p>
<p>"A recurring daydream, huh?" Rusty skims his palm lightly over Danny's shoulder. Danny doesn't seem inclined to move from his lap, one hand curled over Rusty's knee, so Rusty goes back to softly stroking his hair. They've been in plenty of close quarters, shared a bed or two or several over the years, even once both tried to sleep in the backseat of a rented GMC SUV, but Danny generally doesn't want to cuddle like they're doing now.</p>
<p>"Okay, more like it's one of those jobs I think about when I can't sleep, and just run options in my head until I doze off. Like, how many people would I need to pull off the job if we're only stealing one or two specific things? How would we get back out if we were actually after everything we could possibly lift? If it was just like, a single diamond necklace, could I do it myself?"</p>
<p>He turns slightly in Rusty's lap, looking up at him, so Rusty says, "I'm sure you could do it yourself," and hopes that's the answer Danny was looking for. "Two diamond necklaces, even."</p>
<p>"Now you're just saying things so I'll stop moping."</p>
<p>Rusty laughs at that and scratches his fingers through Danny's hair in reply, picturing Danny rappelling alone into a lesser auction house via some long-neglected skylight. It's in stark contrast to their last few jobs.</p>
<p>"Russ."</p>
<p>"Yeah, babe?"</p>
<p>"Aren't you tired of having to rob Peter to pay Paul?"</p>
<p>Rusty takes some time to think about that. In their line of work, it's almost expected. Danny must mistake his silence for uncertainty, because he adds, "In twenty years, you still want to be robbing safes to pay the bills? I don't. It's not that I want to sit around on my ass, but by then, we'll be the Sauls. Someone else will be us."</p>
<p>Rusty tweaked his back a little the last time he rappelled through a ceiling, but that doesn't mean he never wants to do it again. "I thought I'd get a few more years in before I hung it up for real."</p>
<p>"I'm not saying that day has to be <i>tomorrow</i>."</p>
<p>"No, I know." He slides his thumb gently along Danny's ear. "What does retirement even really look like, for guys like us? Trying something legit? I couldn't hack the hotel business."</p>
<p>He'd sold The Standard, but at least not at much of a loss. Pulling illegal jobs to finance his legal one had started to get too complicated. </p>
<p>"It doesn't have to be 'go big or go home'; we're too old for that."</p>
<p>Normally Rusty would argue Danny's choice of words, but not today. "So where are you thinking, after the funeral? Someplace warm, I hope. I don't do well in winter."</p>
<p>Danny hums, his eyes closing. </p>
<p>"Not Florida," Rusty adds. "It wouldn't feel right to swindle retirees out of their Social Security checks. What about Hawaii? Somehow, I've never been to Hawaii."</p>
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